Brian Barry-Murphy: 'A last-minute winner, it creates a sense of joy that's hard to replicate'

Irish Examiner

a day ago

Cardiff City picked up their third League One victory of the season with a 92nd minute winner away to AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday night. The 1-0 win leaves Brian Barry-Murphy's side second in the table, two points behind Stevenage.
"I thought we played well, but we didn't underestimate how difficult it is to come to this venue," said the Corkman, who is just t wo months into his time as manager.
"Johnnie [Jackson] has had sustained success over a long period of time, so they're very confident and very difficult to play against, but I thought we handled the occasion really well. We played some really good football, and in the end got what I felt we deserved.
"I think we wanted to define what we looked like, so when the games are difficult, that we keep playing the way we want to play, and keep going right until the last whistle, and the players did that.
"We have a team that's in the very early stages of forming, so to show the resilience that we did, and to give ourselves a chance to win the game by keeping a clean sheet, for our team it gives us a lot of belief that we have to be resilient and really skilled in how we defend the goal at all times."
The winning goal came via a combination of substitutes David Turnbull and Isaak Davies, both of whom came on 30 minutes earlier. Turnbull's volley was deflected into the net off Davies's knee.
"We've got a really small squad, but what we wanted was to have absolute quality who can start or come off the bench," said Barry-Murphy.
"The subs seemed pretty natural for me; they felt as if they were the right fit for the time of the game.
"David helped us in a period where we were just threatening to lose a little bit of control and calmness in the middle of the pitch. Isaak gave us real speed in wide areas – to see him rewarded for what has been a difficult period was very beneficial for us all."
Cardiff travel to face sixth-placed Luton, who were relegated from the Championship last season, at lunchtime on Saturday.
"The energy from the supporters since the first day I came into the club has been amazing," Barry-Murphy continued.
"There's a feeling of real positivity towards the team. You always want to give them something to feel ecstatic about, and a last-minute winner in that fashion, I suppose it creates a sense of joy that's hard to replicate.
"It's a brilliant venue for us to go and test ourselves in. I was really conscious of the fact that we had a really good performance on Saturday, and the team seemed settled for tonight.
"We've got a really good chance to recover tomorrow, train on Thursday and Friday, and then prepare ourselves for what's going to be a really good test on Saturday in front of as many away fans as we had tonight."